Dynamixor
The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.
Aubrey Hackett
While it is a pity that the story wasn't told with more visual finesse, this is trivial compared to our real-world problems. It takes a good movie to put that into perspective.
Zlatica
One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.
Raymond Sierra
The film may be flawed, but its message is not.
airjordanyk
Ghilli is one of the best made entertainers Tamil cinema has ever seen, and is the movie that brought Vijay into stardom. It is easy to remake a blockbuster movie, but to surpass the original is something only a few movies can do, and Ghilli is one of them. Although the general story line is the same as Okkadu, director Dharani had riveting screenplay that made the movie feel more intense and racy. The movie's decision to forego a comedy track was a great move, since Vijay does an excellent job in providing comic relief during his interactions with his family. Prakash Raj's role is extended a little bit more in the Tamil version and he does a great job portraying a menacing villain who will do anything to achieve his goal. Trisha also does a great job as playing a mortified girl who is running for her life. The soundtrack by Vidyasagar is simply iconic with songs like Appadi Podu. Some of the scenes maybe considered "over the top" by today's standards, but without a doubt this was a culturally significant movie in Tamil cinema. There really isn't much to complain about this movie since it did well in all areas.
mani8005
Ghilli is the best movie of vijay & one of the biggest hit in his career.... As I had not seen the Telegu movie so I could enjoy this movie even more.The story is about a girl wanting to escape the clutches of a local goon who wants to forcibly marry her. Since he is a goon so no body is ready to help the heroine. Vijay who had come to play a Kabaddi match there sees this and decides to help her. The rest of the movie is how vijay helps her & how the girl ultimately escapes the clutches of the goon & the goon's father's political cronies. The movie has lot of the edge of the seat thriller moments and will keep the viewer engaged till the end. Vijay is as usual very good in role of the kabaddi player. Trisha,Ashish Vidyarthi,the bunch of vijay friends all have done their job competently. A special mention has to be made about the villain of the movie Prakashraj.The villain's character has been properly etched out and prakashraj has portrayed it very well. Surprisingly, for the first time, I felt sympathy for the villain in the end. The dialogue "Hi Chellam" has really caught on with the masses. The music by vidyasagar is brilliant and the song 'apadi podu' is a rage all over..Dharani has to be credited with such a nice masala movie which will be enjoyed by not just die hard vijay fans but also by the general tamil movie audience all over the world.
balajiviswanathan
The word Ghilli actually means a small sharp wooden game instrument that is used in a game called ghilli-danda (a precursor to Cricket) in India. The use of the word as nickname for the principal character is stylish, as it signifies one who is sharp, fast and can hurt badly when rubbed in the wrong way.Ghilli is one of the best movies for Vijay and in it is unrivaled in its pace and action. The movie never slacks for a moment, and keep you always with some exciting action. The movie is set in Madurai and Chennai and its story core is simple. A rich landlord tries to covet a beautiful girl in his town, and his unquestionable power and authority, prevents the girl from seeking a justice. The hero tries to rescue her and the majority of this movie portrays the week in which all this action happens.A very exciting movie and though the story is nothing new, the director and the actors receive praise for the full-paced action.
jax1492
If you have seen the Telugu version of Gilli "Okkadu" you will find this to be very similar in story line, but Gilli has different songs and takes place in Tamil Nadu not Andra pradesh. Although this is a remake of "Okkadu" you will find that Vijay and Trisha make this a unique film, Vijay and Trisha make a great pair. A few negatives were when Vijays character slaps Trishas character for going to buy a present for him, he never apologizes and she still stays with him in the end. Good action and songs make this an all around great movie I recommend it.I give it a 10/10, one of the best I have seen.